


Breakthrough

by jitterbug



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M, harry is asleep for most of it (a concussion and broken wrist but he turns out fine), louis is protective because harry is his baby, louis terrorizes a clueless nurse, takes place in a hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 00:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6173227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jitterbug/pseuds/jitterbug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry and Louis seen from the perspective of a young, clueless nurse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breakthrough

**Author's Note:**

> This is something old and light and fluffy I thought I'd finally publish. I tried to make it funny, so I really hope that worked :3. H&L seen from other people's pov is one of my favorite things in fics and I never see it enough, so I really hope you enjoy!

“This is Harry Styles, twenty-three years old, suffered a severe blow to the head during a car accident, shows symptoms of grade 3 concussion but other than that, his vitals are stable and judging by his CT scan he won’t be needing brain surgery.”

“What the hell happened to his wrist? Looks like it was put through a blender.”

Lily, one of Royal London’s finest nurses, winced at the sight. Sure enough, the patient’s hand looked like it had been slaughtered. “It’s just broken. And most of his fingers, too. _That_ will probably have to go into an OR.”

“Maybe they’ll let me in,” said Mark, Lily’s companion for the night, trying and failing to steer the hope from his voice.

“Maybe.” Probably not. Last time Mark stepped foot in an OR, he’d dropped a living, beating heart. Granted, it had been safely stashed into a plastic bag, and nothing happened to it, but it was clear to everyone and their mother that Mark was not to be allowed within a five foot radius of any OR, for at least the next year. Still, if he hadn’t been fired yet, it probably wouldn’t happen, as Lily often reminded him.

“Have you called anyone for him?” Mark asked after a beat of silence.

“Anna did.”

“So what should we do now?”

Technically, both Mark and Lily were supposed to be filling out paperwork and doing coffee rounds, or helping out at their respective designated wards. But due to a shortage of staff--flu season--no one would really notice their absence. And apparently, playing doctor was still as fun as it used to be back when they were toddlers.

Lily smiled, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Mark. Correct me if I’m wrong, but are these patient’s oxygen levels looking a little lower than they should?” She gestured towards the monitor over by the bed, which was beeping mindlessly.

It took a moment for Mark to catch up. “Um…” He squinted at the tiny screen, a look of mild panic on his face. “No, looks fine to me, what--Oh… oh! Oh my god, Lily, his airway must be restricted! We have to intubate!”

“I think he might be hemorrhaging! Blood is clogging up his lungs! It’s an edema! Hand me the betadine to your left!”

“You do that! I have to open up his brain to keep it irrigated, it’s swelling!”

(The coffee machine was broken. It was supposed to be fixed this morning, but.)

“He’s crashing!” Lily yelled, breaking off into manic laughter when Mark pretended to begin CPR. “Quick, give me--”

But her cry for a pretend crash cart never came, because at that moment a panicked wail interrupted their moment of fun.

“ _Oh my god, Harry?!_ ”

Looking back, it could almost be considered funny. After the charges pressed against them were revoked, that is.

As it was, it took a second for Lily’s brain to catch up, so when four boys--men, boys, she never knew what to call them these days--ran into the room, eyes _wild, screaming,_ all she could do was give out a little yelp of her own.

Mark, meanwhile, who had been hysterically laughing, ever since the fictitious edema, simply paled. The way the delighted smile melted right off his face would have made Lily’s year, if of course she hadn’t just tricked four men into thinking their loved one was on the brink of death.

Four _very_ attractive men, she couldn’t help notice, the smallest of which was already sobbing by the patient’s bed. “What’s happening to him? Is he dead? _What’s happening?_ ” He wailed.

Lily didn’t know what to do, whom to address first. The tallest of the men, a broad shouldered, tall haired jock (most likely), was clutching his heart in relief, and a darker-skinned Gucci model (most likely), was glaring right at her, panting like he’d just ran a race.

Only the tiny one by the bed and the blonde one hadn’t yet realized what had happened.

“Don’t just stand there, help him for fuck’s sake!” The blonde one yelled, and boy was he the proud owner of a healthy pair of lungs. He turned to a bewildered looking Mark, who floundered under the attention, shifting guilty eyes towards the patient.

Seemingly realizing neither Mark nor Lily were about to explain, the tall-haired, potential bodybuilder, stepped in. “He’s fine. Harry’s fine. They were joking around. Look at the monitor, Lou, he’s fine.” He walked towards the tiny one, Lou, and held the back of his neck, pointing towards the ECG screen. “See? He’s fine.”

Sure enough, right there on the monitor, were the vitals of a perfectly cared for patient. The steady _beep, beep_ of his heart confirmed this.

“He’s not--he’s not crashing?” Asked Lou, voice scared, though already traces of understanding were dawning upon his face.

Lily winced. She caught Mark’s eye, and knew the terror on his face was mirrored on her own. Finally, she found the courage to speak. Yet with every word, each met with more and more contempt, the desire to flee intensified.

“I’m so, so sorry. He’s fine, he’s absolutely fine, he--he has a concussion, and a broken wrist and a few broken fingers. He won’t be needing surgery, and he’ll probably be waking up in--” she checked her watch, realized she didn’t _own_ a watch, and felt the skin of her cheeks turn a hot, angry red. She gave Mark her best _save me_ eyes. “An hour, tops. His, his vitals are stable, he’s a healthy man, won’t be needing surgery--”

“Maybe a mild hand reconstruction, his fingers are--”

“Right, they’re pretty bad, must have, you know--”

“In the car accident, must have hit ‘em--”

“Correct, but that’s a safe procedure, nothing at all to worry about, he’s in good hands.”

There was silence. She kept her eyes fixed on the floor, noticed a cracked tile. It looked kind of greasy, too, and it occurred to her that maybe she should suggest rubbing alcohol to get rid of the residue, like her mum used to use on the stove.

Understandably, the small one, Lou, wasn’t having it. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

_Shit._

“What the _fuck_ is wrong with you?!”

_Oh god._ She was sweating. She was sweating like a person who’s just made four men very, very angry.

“I fucking asked you a fucking question, you--”

“ _Louis!_ ”

Her hands shook when she hastily tied her hair up into a ponytail, one of her nervous habits. “I’m so, so sorry, sir--”

“We both are,” Mark jumped in, hands held in front of him like he’d surrendered to the fact that if the tiny boy with wickedly tanned skin and fire in his eyes saw it fit to physically engage, all he’d be capable of would be shielding himself from, hopefully, sharp nails digging into his eye sockets and nothing else. “That was incredibly stupid, not to mention rude, and--”

“I’m gonna fucking kill you if you don’t shut up right now.”

“Lou, come on,” the jocky one sighed.

“What kind of hospital is this? Who are you? Why were you--”

Lily felt like vomiting all over the broken, greasy tiled floor. The tiny boy was sitting by the patient’s side, holding his uninjured hand safely in both of his like it was a little bird fallen from the nest. There were still tears in his cheeks, and they reflected the harsh white lights and glowed a sweet honey amber off his skin. He was trembling a little, probably adrenaline and rage, and Lily had honest to god never been so scared in her entire life.

She was horribly reminded of getting scolded by a police officer for littering at seven years of age.

It simply couldn’t get worse than this.

But then, the small scary boy let out a pathetic, sad little whine, ducking his head as a fresh batch of tears pooled up in his blue, blue eyes. “Liam,” he said on an exhale, and the tall tall-haired boy was on him in an instant, pulling him into a hug in a very strategic manner so it was both comfortable for the patient and comforting for Louis, who hadn’t let go of the patient’s hand.

From across the room, the two other boys let out heavy sighs as well, scrubbing their faces in mind-numbing relief. Lily felt her heart ache.

Mark, who’d sneakily made his way towards her, nudged her side. She shook her head minutely. All she wanted was to flee, but she knew deep down they had to stay here and clean up her mess.

A voice startled her from her thoughts. “Um… so you said hand reconstruction surgery?” It was the Gucci model. He looked pissed.

Lily cartoon-gulped. “Yes. Many bones are cracked and were displaced by the impact.”

“Where is his doctor?” The blonde one said. The way he said it made her flush.

“I can go get him right now.”

“Yes, please.”

_Please._ At this moment, she would eat raw meat right off the greasy floor if they told her to. And she’d been a vegan for fifteen years.

Without one more word, she and Mark were out of the room.

“Holy shit, did you notice how hot they all were?” Was the first thing he said, as soon as they were out of earshot.

“Oh my god, you idiot, shut up! They’re gonna get us fired! Did you see how pissed they all were?”

“Uh, I was in the room, wasn’t I? The way he looked at me, I swear we’ll need an actual crash cart in a minute.”

“I’m not joking, Mark. We’re going to get fired for this. How could I be so damn stupid?” Lily cried, tears of frustration gathering in her eyes.

At the sight, Mark sighed and pulled her in for a hug. “Don’t whine, we won’t get fired. Trust me, I dropped a living heart and I’m still here, right? They’re probably so relieved the patient isn’t _actually_ dying right now, they’ll forget all about it. You’ll see.”

...

 

Long story short, they don’t forget. At least Louis doesn’t, Lily finds out, when she’s back to check on Harry and getting him some drugs for the pain he’s bound to discover as soon as he wakes.

The familiar voices carry out the open door and as she approaches, the mere tone of voice with which Louis is speaking has her petrified just feet from the entrance.

“I want them fired, Liam. I’m not kidding. They scared the living shit out of me,” she hears him say.

“I’m not excusing what they did, for god’s sake, I’m just saying, you’re overreacting. They were joking, there was no way they could have known you’d walk in right at that moment, alright? Just think for one second the things you’d get up to if you were a nurse, jesus--”

“I wouldn’t let even for one second someone believe the person they love more than anything in this world, the only person that matters to them, is fucking dead Liam, and fuck you for thinking I’d ever fucking do something so stupid. People this stupid should not be allowed in a hospital.”

_Ouch._ She felt that like a scalpel to the chest.

“I’m not saying you’d do that. And I know it was stupid, okay? But come on. Charges? Really? I’m not even sure they committed something you can press charges against!”

Louis made a noise like an angry velociraptor. “Fine! But I am telling their boss and they are getting fired!”

Their voices quietened a little, and Lily felt her knees go weak. She felt the panic returning to her, so when she let her body fold into itself on the floor against the wall just outside the room it was almost a relief.

It felt like hours she was sat there, wrapped up in her own misery and shivering lamely, when a voice, prim and clear, pierced through her stupor. “Louis will be fine,” it said. It didn’t even startle her at this point.

When she looked up, the blonde boy and the model boy were looking down upon her. Though they looked much calmer, there was scorn in their eyes. They were holding cups of coffee and some wrapped up sandwiches.

“You just really scared him. He was already losing his shit from the call. We barely managed to convince him it would all be okay when he heard you. Harry’s his boyfriend. They’ve been together since they were like, sixteen probably. He’s crazy about him.”

That makes sense, Lily thinks. It wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out there was something there. Just a pair of eyes.

It made it _so_ much worse, though.

“I’m _so_ sorry. I feel so stupid, I can’t believe this is happening. I’m so sorry, please, you have to believe me. I’m a good nurse, I promise. I take care of my patients, and they like me, the ones that are conscious. I _promise_. We were just…”

“Fucking stupid,” the model cuts in. The way he speaks reminds her of Voldemort, kind of. His eyes seem dead and the lack of expression on his face make him seem like the kind of person who has no problem speaking his mind at the cost of piercing right through someone like Lily’s dignity. He looks like he could be the CEO of a very important international multi-millionaire company.

Needless to say, it kind of stings. “Yeah.” Her eyes slide shut, holding back for the hundredth time in the span of an hour angry, frustrated tears.

When she look up again, there’s a pale hand hovering by her face. She takes it, lets it pull her to her feet and comes face to face to the blonde boy, who looks exponentially kinder despite the fact that he was one of the last to catch on to the fact that Harry wasn’t seizing back when Lily was being a jerk. “Zayn’s studying to become a doctor,” he says, gesturing towards the model.

Name to match the face, then. “I’d fire you,” Zayn says, emotionless.

“Ignore him. He’s just trying to scare you, just in case Louis didn’t,” the blonde one says fondly. Hm.

“Do you _really_ think your friend, Louis, will be okay?” She asks eventually, after taking a few deep breaths to help gather herself.

“Once Hazza wakes up, sure. He can be volatile. He’s a right laugh, though, this is just a stressful moment. He usually wouldn’t come off so… mean.”

“I deserve it,” Lily says earnestly. “Anyways. I was just going to go check on the patient. He should be waking up soon. Did you speak to the doctor?”

“Yeah, all’s good.”

“Okay.”

They all walk into the room, which is blessedly silent. Louis has curled up on the bed, now, on the side of Harry’s uninjured hand, tucked up right into his neck, which is not actually allowed but Lily likes her head attached to her body so she keeps quiet as she walks towards them and is just about to start prodding over Harry’s body, check his skull, pulse, and eyes when--

“Don’t touch him,” Louis snarls.

She might kind of drop her light on Harry’s shoulder.

“Louis,” Liam sighs, sounding irritated from his place on a chair.

“What? I don’t want her touching him. Can you please get a different nurse, _Liam_?” Louis bites out. All without looking at Lily even once.

She turns towards Liam, anyways, and he looks mildly apologetic. “It’s fine. Someone else will be here in a moment,” she says, before making a hasty retreat.

_I am the worst, most horrible nurse in the entire world_ , is all she can manage to think. She goes into the bathroom to cry a little before getting Jeannine.

...

 

Her boss makes her and Mark apologize. He walks them both towards the room, even though she made it clear that they’re not welcome there, and knocks on the door before leading them in. She’s not ashamed to admit she uses Mark’s body to shield herself from view.

This time, the patient is awake and full of energy, it seems, if his guffawing laughter is anything to go by. The air feels so much lighter, with him awake, and his smile lights up the room. The biggest change, of course, is Louis, whose face shines with love; from his soft eyes, which follow Harry’s every move, to the tiny smile that paints his lips. It feels weird just looking at him, like she shouldn’t because she knows it isn’t something she’s meant to see.

The rest of the boys are either sitting on chairs around the bed on their phones or watching the movie that’s playing on the DVD. Fight Club, maybe?

“Harry, how are you feeling?” Dr. Murphy asks.

“Much better. I can wiggle my fingers now, look,” he says, and follows it with a display of what can hardly be considered finger wiggling. Maybe if someone recorded it and sped up the video feed by a thousand times.

Lily would make a great movie producer, wouldn’t she. It was nice to discover at least _one_ other career prospect, if worst came to worst.

“That’s good. Don’t rush it. It’ll take time for you to regain control of your hand. How about your head, any pain?”

“Nope,” he answers. God, he’s like a toddler playing to please his favorite teacher.

He’s adorable, is what he is.

“Right. Well, I’m here in light of the events Louis has so kindly filled me in on. I believe it is my duty to see that proper apologies from nurse Islands and nurse Rodgers here are carried out. It is hospital procedure, after all. I personally want to make sure this hospital makes up for whatever trouble it might have caused. Nurse Islands, nurse Rodgers, go ahead.”

“Okay,” Lily begins after an extended deep breath. “Well, I’m sure the patient knows what happened. And I want to say sorry for so inappropriately disrespecting his rights as a patient. Most of all, I’d  like to profoundly apologize for the distress I caused on Harry’s visitors. I can assure you, from the bottom of my heart, it won’t happen again.”

She doesn’t expect Harry’s reaction. With a sympathetic smile, he brushes off her apology. “Aw, love, don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s not a problem, right Lou?”

“Right,” Louis grits out. He’s glaring and his eyes are blazing.

Mark’s visibly wavers at the sight. “Yeah, well, I’m really sorry too,” he adds, “There’s no excuse for what we did and it in no way reflects the hospital’s training system or our own capabilities as nurses. We still would’ve gone to great lengths to make sure the patient--” here he points towards Harry, in case there was any doubt, “--made it out of this hospital, alive and stronger than ever to embark in whatever it may be that he so pleased to carry out, and--”

Dr. Murphy steps in, with a fatherly hand on Mark’s shoulder. “I think what Mark is so eloquently failing to say is that he is sincerely sorry.”

“Yes, that’s just exactly what--”

“And so am I,” Dr. Murphy continues, looking in all his glory like the president of a nation. “Please take these gift cards to any Starbucks, including the one right downstairs on our own premises, to make up for any trouble.”

“Thank you, that’s very nice of you,” Harry grins.

“So just to be clear,” Louis says, “these two nurses, who besides abusing the body of a patient, made my friends and I believe said patient was dying and in need of open brain surgery for swelling, or whatever, won’t be fired?”

It’s like watching an unexpected car crash or something, the way Louis’ voice is so calm and serene, a posterchild for innocence with batting eyelashes, while from his mouth spout words loaded in a threat that could literally end Lily’s life.

Before Dr. Murphy can reply, however, Harry claps his healthy hand right over Louis’ mouth. “Don’t listen to him. It won’t be necessary. Louis’ just restless because it’s been over twelve hours since he himself has scared the life out of someone.”

Liam snorts, letting out a cough that sounds much more like “damn right” than an actual cough, in Lily’s professional opinion.

“Thank you,” she says. She adds in a charmed smile but it slides right off her face when Louis growls.

Seriously, what is it with him and feline-sounding warning noises?

As Dr. Murphy ushers Mark and Lily out of the room, she pictures what it would’ve been like to be classmates with someone like Louis back in High School, and is clutched by fear at just the thought. Something tells her they would not have been the closest of friends.

...

 

Harry leaves the next morning, hand all wrapped up in a cast that, after not an hour of being in place, already looks alarmingly like the wall of some random skate park. It’s just Louis and Liam that are with him this time. Lily brings about the wheelchair, and as soon as Harry’s safely perched atop it, Louis is pulled right onto his lap.

Liam rolls his eyes, and Harry just looks dopey. At the sight of him, all flushed and happy, Lily can’t help but admire the pair they make, because it is clear that they balance each other off. She wonders whether or not they fight a lot, and how often, but more than that she wonders what it must be like to be with someone in the way they are together. She can’t afford to be jealous, of course, but watching her does make her think about when it will be her turn to be looked at the way Harry so blatantly looks at Louis.

It is a relief for both Lily and Mark to watch them leave. By then, the entire hospital has heard about the little scandal, and although some of the staff laugh and brush it off in the halls, most of the other nurses and residents throw them snide looks over their shoulders. Lily can’t be too mad, though. She knows they’re all smug at the fact that they are not the ones in the spotlight for once.

“I deserve it,” Lily laments, when for the third day in a row not one of the doctors calls for her help. She and Mark are in one of the gardens during their lunch break, sharing a pack of Oreos and a fruit salad.

“I promise, if I had anything, I’d give it to you. But at the rate I’m going I think it’s more likely I’ll become an actual doctor than go back to the way things were before I dropped the heart. And pretend killed a patient in front of his devoted boyfriend.”

“We should just start our own hospital,” Lily suggests wistfully, sucking on a grape.

...

 

A week later is Valentine’s Day. Mark finds a box of heart-shaped chocolates in his locker with a sweet little note: “From your friend, Lily, thanks for all the good times :).” A few hours later he’ll discover they were drenched in laxatives, and, obviously, not a gift from Lily. He’s at the toilet hourly for the rest of the day and for the rest of the week in random intervals with no warning. And when Lily heads towards her changing room, scrubs drenched in vomit, she finds all her clothes and extras replaced with a see-through black knit turtleneck, a tight and short brown leather skirt, and a matching set of lacey leopard print bra and panties. Her note is not sweet at all, but on the bright side, perhaps alarmingly so, the lingerie is a perfect fit. She can’t even be too upset at Louis. After the very particular walk of shame that follows, things finally go back to normal. Still, it’s months before she and Mark get to treat an actual edema patient.

...


End file.
